Wednesday, February 29, 2012

THE GAY MARINE KISS! THE BIG GAY FRENZY!!!

You know, at first, i wanted nothing to do with this gay marine kiss. I thought to myself who cares? No big deal! (I want more!!! Just kidding. That was for my “Little Mermaid” fans). When a friend suggested i take a look at it for my blog, i took a closer look. I guess it is a big deal.

THE ISSUE AT HAND:

I typed in “Gay Marine Kiss” and 103,000,000 results came up in .16 seconds. Perhaps there is something to this. I thought it was a video. Nope. it’s just a photo. A photo that has created quite a FRENZY. It appears when Sgt. Brandon Morgan returned from Afghanistan to Hawaii and saw his partner, Dalan Wells (who personally looks like he should be in the marines), he jumped into his arms like a giddy school girl and kissed him. OMG! So terrible. :)

THE FRENZY:

On the “Gay Marines” Facebook page alone, this photo has 41,000 likes and 10,000 comments...and has been shared 6,719, now 6720 with my blog. That’s incredible. My big question: Why the Big Gay Frenzy? And what happened to the Big Lezzy Navy kiss when P.O. Marissa Gaeta kissed P.O. Citlalic Snell back in December, 2011. I don’t remember hearing about them at all. Why is that? Why do you think it is?

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

Gay people around the United States are proud. They are proud to be gay. They are proud that we can now serve openly in the military (although most of us are too self-ish and narcissistic to join the U.S. Marines). The quickest and most prominent way to share their pride is social-networking baby!!! Even me. I am proud, therefore, this issue, this blog, and eventually this book. I give a big shout of KUDOS to all those openly serving Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual persons serving in the US Military. And, of course even a bigger shout of KUDOS to the Mili-Trannies serving in the Military. That must be even more difficult than trying to comb Diana Ross’s 70‘s afro-hair.

On the flip side, people are angry. People don’t understand gay-ness. They fear us. As they probably should, we are kinda taking over the world, one person at a time. (LOL). Why is it always the haters that ruin a good thing for everybody else? Can i literally get an “Amen”!

If my gay-spicions are correct, I bet Ellen will have them on by the end of this week. Who wants to bet with me?

OTHER THOUGHTS - ON A SERIOUS NOTE:

Given the military’s “official” ban of openly gay peeps back in December, I suppose like every other law passed concerning discrimination over the past 100 years...the same pyscho-socio-political phases occur. First, the law gets passed, then slowly over time (50 years or so) the bigotry, hatred, and prejudices slowly subside. Just to name a few: Women’s Equal Rights, African-American Civil Rights, and now with Gay Human Rights. In all fairness, this isn’t the case just in the United States, for example, in 1998, the country of Ecuador (re-doing it’s constitution for the umpteenth time) was the 2nd country in the World to write homosexuality as an equal right in its democratic constitution. Still, given that fact, it still took me 6 months in 1998, when i was 18, to officially come out...and it was the first time in my life that i was concerned for my physical well-being after publicly coming out in one of the best universities in South America. (That’s a story for another time.) I believe it could take another 36 years before there is socially-accepted gay marriage in Ecuador. But...you gotta start somewhere, right?

As i told you before, i have always lived in super gay-friendly places: Moultonborough, NH, New York, and now Los Angeles. If roughly 60% of the country are in favor of gay marriage, am i right in assuming that the other 40% must be comprised of 3 groups of people: 1) religious persons; 2) People that have never been exposed to how non-threatening and fun-tastic we really are; and 3) government officials running for re-election who are actually in favor of gay marriage, but reject the bill anyway (no names, Gov. Chris Christie. Shame on you! Come on, it’s New Jersey...all the Gays are moving to Jersey!!!). Can i get an “Amen” up in here. (For those of you who don’t watch “Ru-Paul’s Drag Race,” you are doing yourself an injustice!)

In closing, cause i’m very mouthy today...1) Be proud of who you are, no matter what the case. 2) Share the love. Cause lord knows there ain’t enough love in this world...and 3) Share this mo-fo blog with all of your friends and family!

P.S. In the time, it has taken me to write my blog, there are now 41,300 likes on the “Gay Marines” facebook pic and counting...

4 comments:

I think that lesbians are more "socially acceptable" than gay men. In society's eyes, girls are pretty and feminine and to be protected and cared for. Therefore, a lesbian kiss can be overlooked and pushed aside, because they're girls. It's also more common to see girls being affectionate with each other. Even hetero girls hold hands, kiss, hug, walk with their arms around each other, etc. Plus, to quote a friend of mine from high school, "If a guy says that lesbians aren't hot, they're either lying or gay."

As much as I hate to admit this, two men kissing is a bit shocking to me. I live in the suburbs. The majority of my friends are Mormon. It's not something I'm exposed to. I mean, other than on television and the internet, I've never seen two men kiss. I don't think it's wrong, (what I think is wrong is me feeling like I have to say that I don't think it's wrong because it should be the "norm" for people to not think it's wrong) just different than what I'm used to, and things that are different than what you're used to tend to be shocking, no matter how you feel about them. This "shock," is part of why I think this picture has made the rounds so much. It's so far out of the realm of what people are used to seeing and believing when it comes to military men, that it's a big deal.

I think you are absolutely correct in your thoughts on the "big gay frenzy." People are proud to be gay. They're proud to finally be able to serve openly. They're proud to be able to share with everyone the fact that they can now show their affection in an arena where that wasn't possible before. However, I think it goes beyond gay people. I think there are many straight people who are also proud. They are proud that they are living in a time where we are on the cusp of equal rights, no matter what your sexual orientation. They are proud to be in a society that is finally starting to realize that you can't just pretend like gay people don't exist and expect them to go away. They are proud to finally have a government that is making steps in the right direction, and they are part of the "big gay frenzy," too.

Thank you, Katie for responding. I adore you for responding and thank you for all of your points made. Thank you for being honest enough to tell me your truth...and you are completely right... WE (everyone...gays, straights, etc...) are all part of the big gay frenzy!!!

A lot of smart people predicted that once the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military was lifted, proud gay and lesbian members of the army, air force, marines and navy would demand respect and equality. And it would be impossible not to contend with the strength of their argument: they are putting their lives at risk to defend our security and our way of life. We can do no less than assure that they have full rights. And that, to me, explains the overwhelmingly positive response not only to their homecoming kiss but also to the lesbian couple before them. And it explains why the Obama administration went into court last week and told a judge that they would not defend the law recently passed by Congress that prohibits the military from recognizing marriages of gay and lesbian service members and veterans (a sort of weird extra-layer of DOMA designed for the military, supposedly in case DOMA falls, but in reality so Republicans can pander and continue to scapegoat the LGBT community). A kiss is not always just a kiss. Sometimes it's sign that the world we lived in is changing, and is being changed by nothing more than the power of love.